Newsletter for July 20, 2010

Rising Goddess Spiritual News, Events, and Words of Wisdom.

Greetings, everyone! This newsletter edition is dedicated to the upcoming holiday Lammas, or Lughnasadh as it is sometimes called. As July comes to an end, and harvest season begins with the promise of fall lying ahead, let’s learn a little about the upcoming holiday.

Lammas

Lammas is celebrated on August 1, though in older cultures it was typically celebrated when the sun reached 15 degrees Leo around August 5th. It a festival that celebrates the first harvest, the God Lugh, and the cycle of birth, life, and death.

Lammas itself means “loaf-mass” (from the old english hlaf-maesse) and was called such when the church assimilated Lughnasadh into their religious holiday calender. Typically the first loafs of bread of the season were blessed by the Church. Before that the harvest festival was called “Lughnasadh”, meaning “the Funeral Games of Lugh”, in honor of the God Lugh.

The importance of the holiday may be lost on many in the current day and age because we live in a different time. Today, the harvest may be important for those who have a garden, though not in the same way as those who lived off the land because they had to. When we need a loaf of bread, or the corn does not grow well, we drive to the local market and buy what we need. In times past harvest time was crucial to survival. In Ireland, to harvest before Lughnasadh meant the harvest was poor, while harvesting on the holiday meant the harvest was plentiful and there would be food enough for the winter months ahead.

Many cultures held festivals and performed rituals symbolizing the cycle of life. The birth of the crops (beltain/spring) the maturing of the crops (Litha/summer solstice) and the harvest of the crops (Lughnasadh/Autumn). During Lughnasadh, it was customary to reflect on the bounty of life and a plentiful harvest by making corn husk dolls, celebrate talents and craftsmanship, and have symbolic sacrifice of grains and bread.

The God Lugh

It is said that Lugh is the God of Light and the Harvest, master of all arts and crafts, a Druid, and a Warrior. His sacred month is August, It is believed that he dedicated this festival to his foster mother who perished clearing a great woodland area so that they could grow crops. When the people of Ireland gathered around her deathbed, she said that as long as they held funeral games in her honor that Ireland would never be without song. Her name,Tailtiu, means "The Great One of the Earth," and it is believed that she was the personification of the Earth herself. The holiday’s name Lughnassadh also comes from one much older, Brón Trogain, meaning painful childbirth, and personifies the Earth giving birth to the fruits of the land so that we, her children, may live.

Celebrate Lughnassadh!

Let us honor our ancestors this holiday! Be thankful for what you have and reflect on the bounty life has bestowed upon you. Whether you celebrate the harvest aspect or the God Lugh, remember the difficulties of our ancestors past, be thankful of the food on your table, reflect on the bounty that life has bestowed upon you, and share your bounty with others.

What's New at Rising Goddess Goods?

We have a few new items for you, including:
Tarot
Decorative resin journals to use in spells/BOS
smudge wands
Spiritual Artwork by Local Artists
Reversed Glass Artwork by local artist
Electric Oil Warmers (marble style glass!)

General News

In the beginning of our spiritual venture, we envisioned opening a shop for like-minded people. A comfortable place to converse and feel at ease. A place to make friends. We believed at that time that we needed to offer our products online as well as in the shop in order to succeed. After all, we live in a time when anything can be found online, even canned fart spray...

After some discussion and contemplation, we have decided to not sell our goods online at this time. It simply doesn’t fit in with what we believe the shop needs to be. We greatly enjoy meeting you! Those who have visited the shop have enriched our lives. So many new beliefs, ideas, and different ways of seeing our world have allowed us to continue to grow. It is fulfilling to know that we all share a common link no matter which path we follow.

So, to make a long story short, we will be selling primarily in our shop: however, the etched glass and a few other handcrafted wares may be added to Etsy from time to time. If you are unable to make it to the shop, let us know. We would be happy to help! Let us know what you are looking for, and we will try to find the item and work out the shipping.

You can visit our website at http://risinggoddess.webnode.com/, or visit our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rising-Goddess-Goods/176232332925

Brightest Blessings to You and Yours!

The Rising Goddess

Apple Candleholders! Why not dress up your candles this Lammas? Any fresh, firm fruit will do, Red apples, early acorn squash, even eggplants, apples just seem to last longer. Wash and dry the fruit thoroughly, then shine it until it gleams. Set the fruit on its bottom, then take a knife where the stem is and start carving it out. You’ll want to go about halfway down inside the fruit to give the candle plenty of support. Widen the hole until it is the same diameter as the candle. Once the hole is finished, pour some lemon juice in and let it set for about 10 minutes. This will keep the apple from browning and turning mushy. After time is up, pour out the lemon juice, dry thoroughly, and place a sprig of your favorite fresh herb in the hole. Add a small amount of wax to the hole to anchor your taper candle, and you’re done! What a lovely way to dress up your altar. (photo and craft can be found at http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lammas/a/AllAboutLammas.htm. Visit for more holiday rituals, craft ideas, and pagan information.)

Ritual Cakes and Feast Ideas Something you can do to celebrate Lammas is to bake bread in the shape of a man-as this allows the spirit of the grain-god to live through us. You can make your own, or choose to use store-bought if baking is not your strong suit. (paganwiccan.about.com) Corn cakes can be baked in a pan to make them look like ears of corn. These make great ritual cakes. The pans can be hard to find, though they can be found at antique markets and on ebay. New ones can be bought online for around $10 to $20.

So many ideas can be found online. My favorite sites include: All About Lammas on about.com and Magic Spells on magicspells.in